Would also love to learn more about my great great grandparents Nicolo Toscano and Rosa Bafunno. They had one daughter named Carmela and possibly had other children as well. Their daughter Carmela Toscano was born in approximately 1878 so I'm guessing Nicolo and Rosa were married about 1876.

Birth record of Carmela ToscanoINDEX# 521878 Aug 12 in the town of Saponara di Grumento at 11:30 AM appeared Nicola Toscano age 38 farmer with his legal wife Rosa Bafunno gave birth to a baby girl named Carmela ToscanoSide notesMarried 1898 June 16 to Francesco Lauria in Saponara di GrumentoDied Jan 21 1960Click for record keep clicking to enlarge

Marriage of Carmela ToscanoINDEX #121898 June 16 in the town of Saponara di Grumento appeared Francesco Lauria age 24 farmer born and residing in Saponara di Grumento son of Michelangelo Lauria and Teresa Padula married to Carmela Toscano age 20 born and residing in Saponara di Grumento daughter of nicola Toscano and Rosa BafunnoClick for record keep clicking to enlarge

Death record of Nicola ToscanoINDEX# 81909 Feb 12th in the town Saponara di Grumento at house on via Marcoso at 5:15 pm declared the death of Nicola Toscano age 70(1839) farmer born in Saponara di Grumento son of deceased Pasquale Toscano and deceased Carmela Romeo husband of Rosa BafunnoClick for record keep clicking to enlarge

Awesome. Thank you Marty. This has given me so much information. Very much appreciated.

I've had a look on ancestry.com today, just briefly, and have also searched their site in the past but I have never been successful there so I am not sure what I am doing wrong. I always come up with the same things - Italian immigrants to the U.S.???

You need a universal subscription on ancestry.com Go to search/card catalog/enter Italy in title and it will bring up all the Italian areas with records. You go get back further with the records on microfilm from Family HIstory Library of Saponara di Grumento which would be listed under Grumento Nova (Potenza), 1809-1910 Births, banns, marriages, deaths, miscellaneous records, supplemental records.

Well thank you again! That certainly solves that mystery - I don't have a universal subscription and probably won't have for a little while. It was great that you wrote down the navigation steps - I've visited ancestry.com since and am definitely navigated to Italians from Grumenta. When you suggest Family History Library of Saponara di Grumento I am understanding you to mean the LDS site? Visited there today and a very good site. We have a LDS Family History Centre where I live so will visit there one day and order some films like both you and Erudita and others have suggested. So here's hoping! Thank you again.

I would really appreciate someone looking at the following link for me and filling in any important gaps. I saved the image a few months ago but couldn’t read it because it was SO FAINT so am having another attempt today. I am also puzzled by the side note. Here's the link:

Okay, now the side note under the Index No seems to read:“16 June 1898 Lauria, Francesco marries Padula, Teresa???”Have the officials made an error here or am I reading this wrong??

(Teresa Padula is Francesco’s mother and I’ve calculated that this would be the Francesco Lauria who married Carmela Toscano. See below)

"Marriage of Carmela ToscanoINDEX #121898 June 16 in the town of Saponara di Grumento appeared Francesco Lauria age 24 farmer born and residing in Saponara di Grumento son of Michelangelo Lauria and Teresa Padula married to Carmela Toscano age 20 born and residing in Saponara di Grumento daughter of nicola Toscano and Rosa Bafunno"